Concordia discors
by Deplora
Summary: Hopes and wishes, dreams and reality: sometimes, it's difficult to distinguish which is the waking world and which is the dream world. YuffiexLeon, YuffiexSquall
1. Chapter 1

_AN: About 3 years ago, in the midst of my long hiatus, I started this fic. It took me a year to get five chapters out-that's how bad my writer's block was. Now that I'm back in the saddle, so to speak, I've gone through and revamped it a bit. I think I may have started writing this before I played Kingdom Hearts II or before I finished it, because I had to change a Hollow Bastion to Radiant Garden, etc etc. You'll also notice there is no Tifa here. I tried to work her in when revamping this, but it doesn't work; too many things would have to be changed to add her. So, unless I can work her in later, she's not here._

_I've been having the urge to write-a lot-lately, and I wanted to start a new chapter for this fic. But, I wanted to post it first to see how it's received. I have five chapters finished, which I will probably post weekly. After those five, I don't know how often I'll update. I'm gonna try and keep up with it since I want to write. Of course, I'm also starting a new chapter of Asphyxia today and hope to have that finished and posted by the end of the week. So, we'll see. But, right now, I think I can keep up with two different fics. So, please read and enjoy._

_Disclaimer: Like always, I own the idea and nothing else._

_Concordia discors_

_Chapter One_

"I am going to kill him. That's all there is to it," Yuffie muttered murderously as she paced restlessly on her balcony, arms crossed tightly across her chest and fingernails digging into her forearms. Of course, the him she was talking about was none other than her once Heartless-butt-kicking partner, Squall "It's Leon" Leonhart. And the reason for her current murderous tendencies could all be traced back to a certain incident involving the computers that morning. Not that she had anything to do with it… much.

It wasn't _her_ fault that the computers crashed when she just _happened_ to slam her fist down on the keyboard after she lost her game of Minesweeper. And it wasn't _her _fault that when she was trying to solve _that_ problem, she somehow managed to cause everything to short circuit and cut out the electricity to the whole town. It was all just a series of coincidences…centering around her.

And, of course, when Leon discovered that she was the one who _supposedly_ caused all the ruckus, he had completely—and irrationally, Yuffie decided—exploded. _"Why can't you just grow up and stop being such a hindrance around here?" _he had bellowed at her, icy blue eyes aglow with anger.

Naturally, Yuffie couldn't just stand around and take that, so she had shouted back just as passionately, "_Well, at least I haven't become such a hard-assed son of a bitch like you!"_

Things had only gone downhill from there, and it took both Cloud and Aerith to stop the argument from escalating to physical violence. Leon had stormed off into the bowels of the castle to try and restore the electricity while Yuffie had stomped back up the stairs to her room, thinking of ways to maim Leon the entire time.

But now, hours later, she could feel her anger slowly beginning to ebb away. She was always quick to anger, but her anger was fast and fleeting, unlike Leon whose cold anger would simmer for days at a time.

She stopped pacing and looked up at the moon and stars. Even after living in Traverse Town for so many years and being kept in an endless night, she never grew tired of looking at the night sky. It always gave her a sense of peace, that everything was going to be all right in the end.

Dropping her elbows onto the railing, she leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand, sighing. If it wasn't for the stupid girlish crush on Leon that she had never grown out of, things would be so much easier. As it was, she was always more easily goaded into an argument with him than any other person. She supposed it was because she was always on a knife's edge with him even when she tried to tell herself that it was only a crush-a silly, stupid crush that she should have grown out of ages ago.

But sometimes… sometimes she just wanted things to be different between them. Maybe if so many things hadn't happened to them over the years, maybe if there hadn't been so many disasters to haunt their days, then maybe it would be more than just a crush. Maybe he could actually even possibly _love_ her back.

"I wish," Yuffie murmured aloud while still looking out at the stars, "I wish the Heartless had never come. I wish things had gone on like they _should _have here. And I wish… I wish Leon would _love_ me." The last part came out in a whisper so soft that it was merely a breath in the cool breeze.

-0-

There was something strange about the day today. Sure, when she first woke up, it _seemed_ like it was going to be a day like any other, but that's when Yuffie realized how completely wrong she was. First of all, she was almost positively sure that she normally had more room on her bed than she did now. She was also absolutely sure that her new mattress did _not_ come with a really warm brick wall in the middle of it. No, that would be her current bedmate. Which left her wondering _why in all the seven hells did she have a bedmate to begin with? _And all this she figured out before even opening her eyes… which she did now.

"Uh… Squa-er, Leon, what… are you doing in _my_ bed?" she asked confusedly as she stared at the mussed chestnut hair currently lying haphazardly across _her_ pillow.

Leon simply sighed in his sleep and snuggled closer to her.

That's when Yuffie realized where exactly his arm was—wrapped tightly around her waist and currently pulling her closer to him. Before she knew it, Leon had her body snuggled against his, and her head tucked under his chin; she felt like a life-size teddy bear.

"_This isn't funny anymore!_" Yuffie whispered shrilly, afraid to awaken her neighbor in the next room over. Since moving into the old castle at Radiant Garden, once known as Hollow Bastion, Yuffie roomed next door to Aerith who claimed that this wing of the castle was the "Girl Wing." Behind Aerith's back, Yuffie secretly called this wing the "Pink Wing" since that's the color Aerith painted it not two days after they moved in.

Back to the situation at hand, Yuffie found herself unable to move and just realized how very muscular Leon's arm really was. She silently mused that heaving that Gunblade around made more of a difference than she had ever thought-not that she thought of him _that_ much. Well, okay, maybe she _did_ think of him that much.

"Grr… Concentrate, Yuffie!" she admonished quietly, "How did we get into this situation, and, more importantly, how am I going to get out of it?" _Or do I really want to get out of it?_ her mind countered when it considered how comfortably she was settled here in Leon's arms, and how very warm his body was, and how very nice he smelled... _Get a hold of yourself, Yuffie!_ she silently screamed, frustrated by her loss of control.

Leon decided at this moment, in his unconscious state, to bury his nose in her short, ebony locks and take a deep breath. In doing so, he also slightly tightened his hold on her for a moment before letting out a sigh and loosening his hold. His other arm, however, slowly wrapped its way around her shoulders. That nearly caused all of Yuffie's thought processes to come screeching to a halt. _Nearly_.

"I am a ninja. I can get out of this. Nothing is stopping me," she quietly coached herself, steeling her nerves for a quick break for it. She tensed up, preparing to dash out of Leon's arms faster than he would know what hit him, granted if he even awakened. Bracing herself, she gave a quick shove off the bed and—

Went nowhere. His arms was like a steel bands around her. _Onto Plan B_, she decided except that she never created a Plan B. She was more of a make-it-up-as-you-go-along girl. Until now, that had always served her well.

Going over her options, Yuffie realized she actually only had two considering the grip Leon had on her. One: she could wait for Leon to wake up and just lay here for the time being while trying to figure out how she had gotten into this situation. Or, two: _she_ could wake Leon up on her own and deal with the consequences.

Out of those two options, she decided that the former was probably the better idea. A cranky Leon was never a good thing. And he was _always_ cranky if someone woke him up too early.

So, in bed with Leon is where Yuffie found herself and where she decided to keep herself for the time being. After the immediate shock of being in Leon's arms was past, she got the sudden fear that perhaps she should check to see if all her clothes were still on.

They were. In fact, there were more clothes on her body than she remembered putting on the night before. Normally, Yuffie would sleep in just her underwear and a thin camisole to combat the humid summers of Radiant Garden; however, this morning she found herself in a pair of red silk pajamas that she _knew_ she didn't own. Silk was never her thing. She hated the way it always felt so slippery; she always felt like she was going to slide right out of it. Yet here she was wearing it.

Thinking about what she was wearing made her think about what Leon was possibly wearing (or not wearing). First off, she _knew_ he wasn't wearing a shirt since her body was being held pleasantly tight against his bare, _absolutely mouthwateringly sexy_ chest. Yeah, that was an image from many of her dreams over the years. Having established that he was shirtless, she very timidly lifted up the edge of the covers and peeked at his lower body.

Her eyes glazing over and freezing at the sight of his chiseled abs, Yuffie shook her head slightly to regain focus before moving her gaze down lower. She gave a sigh of relief when she found he was clad in dark, silky blue pajama pants. At least now she knew she most likely didn't do something last night that she'd regret later… like when she was old and wrinkled. Yuffie was still young, so it would be perfectly natural if maybe she _did_ want to do the horizontal tango at least once with Leon before she died. _But, dammit, she would like to remember it when it happened!_

But it didn't happen. And most likely _wouldn't_ happen in her lifetime. Hence why she was not quite so reluctant to leave this little cocoon of blankets and Leon as she would have one believe. In fact, one could say that she would be quite happy lying like this if she didn't have the fear of what Leon would do and say when he woke up and realized where he was and with whom.

Of course, it _would_ be at this moment—this particular moment that Yuffie had decided to enjoy while it lasted—that Leon would wake up.

Being a ninja taught Yuffie to pay attention to the things around her. And one of the things she had learned to pay _very_ close attention to was breathing patterns. If one was going to go around stealing things, then one had to know when the victim was actually asleep and not simply faking it. So, over the last twelve or so years, Yuffie had become _very_ attuned to Leon's breathing patterns. Not that she ever stole anything from him… or did anything to his Gunblade… much.

It was this attention to breathing patterns that gave Yuffie a slight advantage over the situation; she knew he was waking up, and she knew she had about thirty seconds before his eyes would begin to open. She silently began counting down in her head as she had nothing better to do while trapped against him.

Thirty seconds were up and so were his eyelids. Beautiful crystal blue eyes stared down at her… only there was something wrong with them. They didn't have the coldness that she had come to associate with his eyes. They still had a spark of life in them. And most importantly, they weren't confused at all. They looked right at her and crinkled at the corners as he smiled at her.

"Good morning, Sweetheart," Leon said sleepily as he lightly kissed her temple before moving his lips down the side of her face to her jaw line.

As pleasant as the feel of Leon's lips upon her skin was, Yuffie could still feel an eye-twitch coming upon her. Yep, there it was, the twitching eye. "Uh… did you just call me _sweetheart_?" she asked incredulously while pulling her head back as far away from him as possible in order to be able to get a better look at his face and make sure that this was in fact _Leon_ she was sharing a bed with and not some imposter.

By now, Leon, who was quickly waking up fully, began to frown just slightly, apparently confused by her reaction. "Yuffie, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. His hand started to rub soothing circles on her back.

"You're asking _me_ if _I'm _okay when _you're_ that one who's gone batty?" The morning was getting stranger by the minute. First she wakes up in bed with Leon with no recollection of the night before, wearing clothes she _knows_ she would never wear. But she holds onto the hope that Leon could shed some light on the situation only to have _that_ belief completely shattered when he calls her _sweetheart_. Nuh-uh. No way. Yuffie doesn't play like this. "If this is some sick joke, Leon, you better start running because I am going to kick your ass up and down the stairs!"

Leon backed off a little and lifted an eyebrow in question. "Who the hell is Leon?"

-0-

_AN: I hope you enjoy Concordia discors so far. Please review and let me know if you did. Although they are never required, I do always appreciate each and every review I get._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thanks for all the reviews. And, as promised, here's Chapter Two. It's kinda short (for me anyways) but it gets through what it needs to get through. I _think_ the next chapter is longer. I'll have to check when I edit it next week._

_Concordia discors_

_Chapter Two_

"What do you _mean _who's Leon?" Yuffie demanded sharply. This day so far was turning out to be a lot stranger than she had originally thought. As if it wasn't bad enough waking up in bed with _Leon_ of all people with no recollection of _how_ she ended up there, now she had to deal with some kind strange and twisted game he somehow came up with in his sick head. "_You're_ Leon!"

There was a long pause before he answered. "I'm Leon?" he asked, giving her a strange look.

"Yes! You're Leon!" Maybe this wasn't some strange and twisted game after all. Maybe Leon just hit his head or something and now had amnesia, and they ended up in bed together because… uh… because they had to share body heat! Yeah, that's it. Except that it was summer in Radiant Garden, and during summer here, the temperature never dropped low enough to warrant the sharing of body heat. So that explanation was not an option. Yuffie was beginning to doubt herself, so she questioned timidly, "You are Leon, right?"

"Yuf, I have no—wait, did Tifa put you up to this?" Leon leaned back and released his hold on her waist now, a wry grin on his face. "She did say she was going to get me back good this time. And that I wouldn't even see it coming." He chuckled softly and reached over to run his fingers through her hair.

Yuffie jerked away from Leon-that grin _so_ did not belong on his face-and nearly fell off the bed in the process. "Tifa? I haven't seen Tifa since-" She broke off when he tried to grab her again; he was probably just trying to make sure she didn't fall off the bed, but right now? She didn't want him to touch her until she knew what was going on. Sure, at some point in her early teenage years—okay, so even now—she had wanted Leon to hold her like he was trying to do now, but this was not Leon. At least not the Leon she had grown up with. "If this is a joke, Leon, it's really _really_ not funny!"

Leon dropped his hand and stared at her in confusion and slight worry with furrowed brows. "Yuffie, sweetheart," he was speaking very softly now, like you would to a frightened animal, "I'm Squall. Remember?"

"No, no, no, no, NO! You always told me that you hated being called 'Squall,' so I learned to call you Leon. You've been Leon for, what, twelve or thirteen years?" She sat up completely on her side of the bed, as far away from Leon as she could, and ran her hands through her hair. "You are Leon. You have been Leon since the Heartless destroyed this place. I don't even remember for sure how fucking long ago it was, but you've been Leon ever since, and _dammit I want to know what's going on!_"

"Yuffie…" Leon sat up and started to reach for her.

"No! Don't touch me!" she yelled as wrenched away from him. "You aren't Leon, and I sure as hell don't know who you are!"

Leon appeared a little lost as he looked at her before climbing off the bed. "Yuffie, just calm down. I'm going to get Aerith. Just… don't leave, okay?"

"Calm? You want me to be _calm_! I am calm! I am _perfectly_ calm considering the circum—"

"You are not calm, Yuffie. You are anything _but_ calm right now," Leon's voice was growing louder by the minute as the frustration he was currently dealing with escalated. "Now just stay here and—" Leon was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door.

"Are you two okay in there? I heard shouting," came a voice-a very recognizable voice-from the other side of the door.

Yuffie had never been so glad to hear Aerith's sweet voice as she was now. "No, Aerith, everything is _not_ okay! I think Leon is cracking up!"

There was a long, silent pause before Aerith opened the door a crack and peeked her head in. "Yuffie, who's Leon?" she asked confusedly as she looked from Yuffie to Leon and back again.

"That's what I've been trying to find out for the last ten minutes!" Leon explained in frustration, beginning to pace around the room. "Ever since she woke up, she's been calling me 'Leon.'"

"Because you _are_ Leon! Tell him he's Leon, Aerith," Yuffie begged.

"I—I don't know a Leon, Yuffie," Aerith stammered, eyes wide as she looked at Yuffie. "I think maybe-"

Yuffie growled, then shouted to the ceiling, "Am I the only one around here who has a full set of marbles in her head?"

"I'm fairly certain that my marbles are intact," drawled a voice from the doorway. A moment later, a man with what could only be described as "bizarrely anti-gravity" black hair walked into the room. "But I've been told that's debatable."

Yuffie stared at him for a few scant moments. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place what it was. So, she did the only thing she could think of. "Who're you?"

The man placed a hand over his heart and feigned surprise by stepping backwards. "Your words wound me. Cold-hearted as ever, aren't we, Yuffie?" he laughed.

Aerith stepped over to the man and grabbed his arm. "Not now, Zack. Something's…" her words trailed off as she started whispering into his ear. Zack's eyes widened, then his brows furrowed as he listened to Aerith.

In the meantime, Leon had stopped pacing and was currently trying to get his hands on Yuffie's shoulders to lead her back to bed only to have her keep shrugging him off. "Yuffie, please, I think you need to lie down for a while or something," he insisted.

"I don't need to lie down, dammit! What I need is to know—Wait, did she call him Zack?" When the man in question raised his head and looked at her at the sound of his name, Yuffie realized why he seemed so familiar to her. He was Cloud's best friend from before the Heartless attack on Radiant Garden so many years before. But… he was supposed to be dead. She _saw_ him die as she was running through the halls looking for her father.

This was all getting to be a bit much for Yuffie, and she only had time to blurt out, "But you're _dead_!" as she backed up once more on the bed, only this time she did fall over the edge and hit her head on a small table. The world faded to black as she landed on the floor.

-0-

Yuffie came to slowly, her head swimming and spots dancing behind her eyelids. She felt something cool on her forehead and knew that someone had placed a cold compress there. Slowly, she began to open her eyes, and between the spots and the sunlight, she could make out a hovering figure in pink.

"Aerith?" she asked tentatively, almost fearing that the young woman would claim her name was something else.

"Are you finally going to wake up, Yuffie? You've been unconscious since this morning," Aerith chided gently as she removed the compress then rose to shut the curtains in order to block out the quickly fading sunlight. "How's your head feeling?"

Yuffie waited until the room was darkened before opening her eyes all the way. "Besides the behemoths tap-dancing in my head, I'm just dandy," she grumbled as she rubbed her forehead and tried to remember how she got here.

"Well, you _did_ hit your head on the dresser when you fainted," Aerith conceded as she sat on the edge of the bed Yuffie was currently occupying. She reached over and began to gently probe the bump on the back of younger girl's head with cool fingers. "Does it hurt much?"

"Only when you touch it," Yuffie ground out as she winced. "And I do _not_ faint, thank you very much. Ninjas don't faint."

Yuffie noticed that Aerith opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it before any words could come out. She finally did find something to ask, however. "Did you have any strange dreams, Yuffie?"

"Uh… actually, yeah, I did. You would not _believe_ this dream, Aerith." Yuffie gingerly sat up, keeping a hand on her forehead. "It was really strange. I woke up, and Leon was there, but he kept saying his name was Squall, and you were there and…" she trailed off when she saw the other girl's face. "It _was_ a dream, Aerith. I am not making this up!"

Aerith took a moment to school her features. "Yuffie, did you hit your head or something?"

"Yeah… when I fell… you just told me—"

"No, not then. I mean, did you hit your head last night or something, before you went to bed maybe?" She reached out to feel Yuffie's head for lumps again, only to have the girl in question pull away from her.

"Aerith. Listen to the words coming out of my mouth. I am perfectly fine. I think. Just tell me why I woke up in bed with Leon, and how Zack managed to survive, and I think I can figure everything else out."

"How Zack managed to survive what? Training? Boot camp? Childhood? It's a wonder he's survived anything as jinxed as he is." Aerith laughed a little at this until she caught Yuffie's stare. "What?"

"Okay, you know what, just forget it. I'll try and figure this out myself." Yuffie managed to swing her legs over the side of the bed without becoming _too_ dizzy. "Just tell me where everyone else is, and I'll go hunt down my own answers."

"Yuffie, I really don't think—"

"Can it, Aerith. Just tell me where they are," Yuffie growled. This was really starting to get annoying. She asks a simple question, and Aerith sidesteps the answer.

Aerith sighed. "Zack made _Squall,"_ she made sure to emphasize his name, " go eat something. The poor man was nearly sick with worry, and he stayed here with you for hours. They should be back any min—"

The door swung open as Leon came striding into the room. "Yuffie?" he asked tentatively, "Are you feeling any better?" He seemed so _concerned_ for her; there wasn't the normal brashness about him. This was definitely not a Leon Yuffie was accustomed to.

Raising her head to look at the ceiling, Yuffie cried, "Does anybody knock anymore? I could have been naked for crying out loud? Everyone just comes _barging_ into my room…" She trailed off into a mumble as the other occupants of the room stared at her.

"I'll take that as a no," Leon said wearily as he watched Yuffie flop herself onto the bed and stare at the ceiling.

"Nope. And she's still not making any sense, as you can see," Aerith replied as she popped two aspirin into her mouth. After dealing with a worried Squall and a sick Yuffie all day, a headache was beginning to pound against her skull.

"Does she still think I'm this Leon guy?"

"Hell-O! I'm right here, you know. No need to talk _about_ me when I'm in the same room as you," Yuffie muttered rather loudly, only to be ignored by both Leon and Aerith.

Aerith sighed loudly and almost felt the need to roll her eyes; she managed to quell that, though. "As far as I can tell." She paused for a moment, trying to phrase what she had to say next very carefully; no one needed to get in a panic just yet. "I think she may be having another _episode_."

"An episode? When did I ever have an episode?" Yuffie chimed in, only to be ignored once more.

"She mentioned 'Heartless' again this time, but it's not as bad as the last one, is it?" Leon very hesitantly asked.

"Why don't _you_ ask her about it, Squall? She's your wife."

Having heard Aerith say this, Yuffie stopped her intelligible mumblings about people talking _around_ her instead of _to_ her and felt all the blood leave her face. "I'm his _what?_" she said incredulously as she sat up so fast that she nearly fell off the bed with the dizziness accompanying her headache.

-0-

_Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be up in about a week. Please let me know how I'm doing. And, remember, reviews are always appreciated, but never required._


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: First off, thanks to all my reviewers. I love you, guys. You make my day when I get a review. Secondly, here's the next chapter. It's another kinda short one. But, I'm fairly certain the next one is longer. I'll be editing that one this week for posting next Friday. And now…_

_Please read and enjoy!_

_Concordia Discors_

_Chapter Three_

"Okay. Let me get this straight. You guys think that I am married to _Squall_ here, right?" Yuffie asked carefully as she sat on the edge of the bed next to Aerith while Squall was sitting in a small, high-backed chair directly across from her. "And I—we've been married for a year and a half now?"

"You don't remember any of it, Yuffie?" Aerith prodded gently as she swept a few stray bangs out of the girl's eyes. She tried to ignore Yuffie's flinch at her touch. "Anything at all?"

"No, because it _never_—" Upon seeing the hurt expression on Squall's face, Yuffie broke off her sentence. It came as such a surprise to see an expression like _that_ on his face of all people. She made an effort to make her words less harsh. "No, I'm sorry. I don't remember any of it."

Squall furrowed his brows. "But you _do_ remember me… just not this me?"

"It was… different, for lack of a better word, between Leon and me. Everything was different." Yuffie looked around the room, just now noticing the differences between it and the room she remembered. Where _her_ room had cracks in the walls just barely covered by a quick paint job, this room's walls were flawless. The color of the room was also something she never would have chosen by herself: pale blue. Her own room was a sunny yellow. And, although the two rooms shared the same furniture, the furniture in this room did not have the appearance of the wear and tear of the furniture in the world Yuffie had known. Of course, this was a world—or dream-unsullied by Heartless as far as she could see.

Aerith rose from the bed and gently pushed on Yuffie's shoulder. "Why don't you try and get some sleep." She took the tray with a half-eaten sandwich from the bedside table and walked towards the door. Stopping at the door, she gave Squall a look and motioned with her head, going not unnoticed by Yuffie.

"I'll be back in a minute," he murmured, bending over as if to kiss her forehead, but stopping himself before Yuffie had a chance to react. He settled for gently squeezing her shoulder instead, and then joined Aerith at the doorway.

Seeing as she didn't have much of a choice with the two of them there, Yuffie lay back on the propped up pillows and crossed her arms over her chest while she mumbled to herself. "Treating me like a child, like I can't take care of myself and like I'm crazy…" She looked across the room, where Squall and Aerith were deep in a whispered conversation and completely ignoring her. She heard the word "confabulation" drift across the room and wondered what it meant. Surely there wasn't something wrong with her, was there? Well, Aerith and _Squall_ seemed to think there was. Really, it was just a matter of getting out of this dream—this _had_ to be a dream-somehow. She pinched herself, hard. Nope, still here. Damn. She supposed she would just have to wait this dream out, if it as a dream. Was it a dream? Was she crazy?

Bored, Yuffie looked out the open balcony doors and watched the sun slowly set beyond the icy mountains in the distance. It always amazed her how the mountains of Radiant Garden kept their snow-capped peaks even in the middle of summer. The sight of the empty balcony beckoned to her. Sparing a narrow-eyed glance to the doorway of the room, she saw that Squall and Aerith were still occupied with discussing confabulations… whatever that was. _Note to self_, Yuffie mused, _find a dictionary._ Silently, she eased off the bed with grace that would make her ancestors proud, grabbed the blanket from the bed, and slipped out the balcony doors, leaving the other two none the wiser.

The fresh air felt good upon her skin. Aerith had managed to keep her locked up in that room for the entire day, and she had never been one who could stay cooped up inside for hours upon hours. Yuffie conveniently forgot that for most of the day, she was unconscious. Below her, the small town surrounding the palace teemed with life: houses were aglow with light, streetlights lit up the small streets, and people bustled about as what looked like a small festival was taking place. It really did look like a completely different place than what she knew.

She quickly wrapped the pale blue blanket around herself self- consciously. Sure, her pajamas didn't expose her very badly—in fact, they covered more skin than what her normal, everyday clothing would-but she saw no sense in letting all of Radiant Garden know what she wore to bed. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being watched, and then did a quick running leap to the next balcony over. "Like they could stop the Great Ninja Yuffie," she muttered as she bounded across a few more balconies with her blanket billowing behind her like a cape.

Finally, she was at what she believed to be the balcony to the Great Hall of the Radiant Garden palace. And, luck was with her as the balcony doors were unlocked. Yuffie slipped in unnoticed on the second floor of the room and walked to the edge of the railing, peering down into the fountain.

She couldn't believe how many people were mulling around it. There were far more people inside the hall than she remembered ever seeing in all of _her_ Radiant Garden and surrounding borough combined. Visiting dignitaries were slowly making their way through the corridor on their way from the dining area to their quarters; servants could be seen giving directions to those unfamiliar with the palace; and a few pages with self-important expressions were hurrying to and fro. "This is just _amazing_," Yuffie murmured as she leaned on the railing and just people watched.

A hand touched her back, and Yuffie jumped in surprise. It had been awhile since she had been so engrossed by something that someone was able to sneak up on her. "Don't do that," she hissed as she placed a hand over her heart and turned around to find Cloud standing there.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear me," he said laughingly as he pointed to the heavy boots he was wearing. "I can hardly sneak up on anyone anymore." He dropped his hand from her back and leaned on the railing next to her.

"Well, I've been having a really lousy day," Yuffie snapped defensively and self-consciously drew her blanket tighter around herself.

"Want to talk about it?" the blond asked as he looked at her with concerned cerulean blue eyes.

"Not really. You'll just think I'm crazy, too." There were enough people thinking she was crazy already. She turned her head away from and continued to watch the people down below.

Cloud sighed. "Zack said you've been slightly… confused today."

The mention of Zack set her off. "No, _I'm _not confused. This whole fuckin' place is confused. I _know_ where I live and where I sleep and this is not it. And none of you are the people _I_ know. Sure, you may look like them, but you aren't _them_." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I just want to go home where I know what's going on."

Cloud wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him in a one armed hug. "But you _are_ home."

Yuffie pushed away from him and began walking along the railing. "Not for me. This isn't _my_ home." She paused at one of the decorative rail posts and ran her fingers along the design. "I told you. _Everyone's_ different here. Even you're different. You don't seem to be _nearly_ as broody as normal. You should be off in a corner someplace being abysmal for fuck's sake!"

"Yuffie…"

"And people are alive that should be dead, places are whole that should be crumbled, and I bet everything is just so fuckin' hunky dory and happy here." She slapped her hand down hard upon the railing at the end of her words.

Cloud seemed slightly taken aback by her suddenly harsh demeanor. "Yuffie, stop swearing. Cid rubbed off on you far too much, didn't he?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

However, Yuffie ignored him, quickly put on a bright façade, and smiled cheerfully at Cloud, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I guess I better be getting back to my room before Leon and Aerith send a search party out for me."

"You mean Squall?" Cloud asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Leon, Squall, whoever the hell he is. Yesterday, he was yelling at me for calling him Squall, today he gets upset when I call him Leon. I can't win." She shrugged her shoulders and hurried out of the room, leaving Cloud more confused by her words than he thought he would be.

Yuffie dashed down the nearest hallway heading the way she _thought_ led to her—and Squall's—room. Seeing as this version of Radiant Garden was completely intact, walls were in places she only remembered large holes being, making her second guess her way around the palace. She gradually slowed down to a walk and ran her fingers along the side of the wall as she went, making sure to stay near the wall to prevent herself from being run over by one of those self-important pages.

It wasn't long before she found the wing that looked somewhat familiar to her despite the fact that it wasn't painted pink. Now she just had to find out which quarters were hers—theirs. There were so many rooms and doors—and no names to identify them with—that she could easily find herself getting hopelessly lost in the corridors.

The search for her rooms didn't take nearly as long as she had originally thought it would have. Of course, seeing Leon—no, Squall—sitting in a chair beside the door and calmly reading a newspaper was a dead giveaway as to which was theirs. She came to a stop about ten feet from him and just stared at him.

Sure, he _looked_ like her Leon, but that was really where the similarities seemed to end. There wasn't the coldness about him that _her _Leon had about him; Squall appeared to be more open with his feelings and allowed them to show on his face more readily. At least, that's what she had discovered this morning when she awoke beside him. Of course, if she really _was_ married to him like everyone claimed, perhaps that was why he seemed more open—because he _was_ more open with her. And all this made her wonder just when did she begin referring to _this _Leon as Squall and _her_ Leon as Leon? And _that_ made her wonder why she was referring to Leon as _her_ Leon?

This was driving her insane, all the confusion, all the changes, just everything. Maybe she really _was_ insane. _Does a crazy person know when they're crazy?_ she wondered. She wrapped her blanket more tightly around herself and slowly began to walk towards Squall, stopping right in front of him.

"You're back." He didn't phrase it as a question, just a statement of fact. Laying the newspaper on the table beside him, he stood up and just looked at her. Lines of worry were etched across his face, and Yuffie _almost_ felt bad for running off without telling anyone where she had gone.

Yuffie simply nodded, then whispered, "I'm scared." She really was. Sure, she may _act_ brave and _say_ nothing scares the Great Ninja Yuffie, but she had never encountered a situation like this before, where she was questioning her own sanity.

Squall stepped forward, his arms open as if to hug her, but she shied away before he could touch her. He nodded his head once in acceptance of her refusal to be touched right now then dropped his arms. "I understand," he said quietly as he held open the door to their quarters, watching Yuffie meekly step into the room before following her.

He didn't let her see the pained expression on his face. He knew she didn't need to worry about his feelings—or anyone else's, for that matter—when trying to dealing with this. It was his hope, however, that this time, the episode would not be as bad as the last time.

-0-

_AN: Thanks for reading! The story is far from over, and the next two chapters are already written. I just have to edit them before posting. _

_And remember: Reviews are always appreciated, but never required._


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Another update, as promised. Next week, however, I'm not sure if I'll be able to update on schedule. I may skip that week due to holidays and what not. Of course, I'm also trying to write an AU FFVII Christmas oneshot._

_And thanks for the reviews everyone! _

_Anyways, read and enjoy!_

_Concordia discors_

_Chapter Four_

It never occurred to Yuffie until this very moment what the sleeping arrangements for the night would be. She never had this problem before. Even when she and Leon were sharing the Green Room in the Traverse Town Hotel, they took turns who got the bed and who got the floor. Well, unless it was _very_ _very_ cold. Then they huddled under the blankets together, trying too hard to stop their teeth from chattering for Yuffie to even savor the moment.

But, here she was now. In this room. With just one bed. And _Squall_ was already pulling the covers back and preparing to climb in. A look around the room showed Yuffie that there wasn't much to choose from for a makeshift bed besides, well, the _bed_, and she just wasn't too sure she _wanted_ to share a bed with this Squall. Not to say that she wouldn't like to with Leon, but this wasn't Leon. And, after having her own bed in her own room for the past four years, the floor did not look too tempting. But it would have to do.

Alternatively, she _could_ sleep in one of the window seats on either side of the balcony, but knowing her, she would end up rolling out of it and hitting the floor with a painful thump in the middle of the night. It had happened before when she had fallen asleep on one of the narrow ledges of the clock tower in Traverse Town while waiting to ambush Leon, a nearly impossible feat.

In the time that Yuffie spent contemplating the sleeping arrangements, Squall had already climbed into the bed and was looking at her expectantly. "Are you going to sleep standing up tonight, Yuffie?" he teased gently as he patted the other side of the bed. "I promise not to bite tonight."

That phrase alone sent images through Yuffie's head that she'd rather not dwell on at the moment. Not to mention the fact that Leon _never_ teased. He was far too serious for that. Yuffie grabbed her pillow. "I think I'll just sleep on the floor tonight," she stated rather loudly in slight embarrassment as she felt her cheeks start to turn red.

Squall sat up rather quickly, the teasing look gone from his eyes and replaced by sad seriousness. "No, you take the bed, Yuffie. I'll take the floor." He started to climb out of the bed.

"No no, _I'll_ take the floor," Yuffie insisted. "This is your room, after all."

"Yuffie, it's your room, too." His feet were already on the floor.

"Leon, just stop being so damn chivalrous. I'll take the floor. It won't be the first time I've done this," she said as she rubbed her temples. This was really starting to grate on her already frayed nerves.

Squall took a deep breath to calm himself down. Now would not be a good time to lose control. "Squall, Yuffie. Not Leon. Squall. And just get in the bed. I won't be able to sleep knowing that you're breaking your back by sleeping on that floor."

Yuffie started growling. "Squall, Leon, Leon, Squall! It doesn't matter _what_ name you go by, you still manage to drive me insane! Just get in the damn bed, close your eyes, and go to sleep, dammit! I will be fine on the floor if you just shut the hell up!" She was panting slightly by the end of her tirade and threw the confiscated pillow that she was still holding to the floor before throwing herself down onto the floor. _Not the brightest idea there, _she mused to herself as she rubbed her now sore hip and winced. She didn't wait to see if Squall listened to her or not, deciding that he would have to actually bodily move her before she would climb into that bed.

But, her little outburst seemed to have had its effect for she heard the rustling of blankets on the bed and felt something soft fall on her head—a wadded up blanket. "You might as well take that, too," Squall grumbled from the bed, "you'll get cold down there."

Yuffie smiled slightly. "Thanks, Leon, I mean Squall." She heard the mattress squeak and then the lights in the room went out, leaving only the sliver of moonlight coming through the window to illuminate the room. Feeling slightly contrite for her rant, she decided to elaborate on the few things. "I really am used to sleeping on the floor, Squall. Or, I used to be. Before we moved back here that is," she explained.

There was a long silence, and Yuffie feared he wasn't going to answer her or that he had already fallen asleep despite his insistence that he wouldn't be able to. "…Where did you live before you came back?" Squall finally asked softly, as though afraid to break the relative silence in the room. Maybe if he could get her to talk about what she _thought_ she remembered, they would be able to talk her through this episode.

"Traverse Town." Yuffie smiled as she said it. Though it was a tragedy that took them to Traverse Town, she had come to love that place. Most of her happiest memories came from that place, the place where she had spent close to half of her twenty years of life. "We stayed in a hotel there. The _only_ hotel there, actually."

"How does that make you used to sleeping on the floor, Yuffie, if you stayed in a hotel? Surely they had beds, didn't they?"

"It was a small hotel, Leon. They didn't have enough rooms to go around, so we had to bunk together," she replied matter-of-factly, not noticing that she had used the wrong name once again.

Squall winced at the name 'Leon.' He was really getting tired of hearing her speak about this Leon guy all the time. "You mean you shared a room with Leon while you were there?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure. But it wasn't like we slept in the same bed or anything. We alternated on who got the bed each night, and the other would sleep on the floor. Well, except for when it was really cold and the heater broke down. Or when I had this really bad nightmare," she clarified as best she could though the day was catching up with her, and she could feel her eyelids beginning to feel heavy.

Clenching his fists, Squall controlled his temper. "Cid would have castrated me if he caught us sharing a room, not to mention a bed, before we were married, no matter how innocent it may have been," he said lightly as he stared at the ceiling with angry eyes.

Yuffie yawned and closed her eyes. "But why would Cid care? He never cared what I did before," she mumbled.

Squall sat up and looked at her down on the floor. "Because he _raised_ you, Yuffie."

"Really? That's nice," she murmured, already half-asleep and just barely registering what Squall had said. She barely heard the bed creak once more as her _husband_ lay back down and rolled over. And, just as she was nearly asleep, she swore she had a vague memory of a voice whispering 'as you wish' and the sudden flash of sparkles.

-0-

As it is usually wont to do, the sun came up much too early for Yuffie's taste, and she found herself rolling onto her stomach and burying her face beneath her pillows while groaning. Usually, she would continue in this manner for at least half an hour before giving up and conceding the battle to the sun. But today was a little different for after groaning for only fifteen minutes about the unfairness of the sun rising at this ungodly hour, Yuffie remembered the catastrophe of yesterday.

She sat up with a bolt and found herself in her own bed, not the floor, and completely alone in the room. The walls were once again painted sunny yellow, and there were noticeable cracks in the walls.

Yuffie gave a sigh of relief while placing a hand over her chest. "So it was all just a dream," she muttered to herself as she plopped back down upon the mountain of feather pillows she called her bed. A few stray downy feathers drifted in the light, airy breeze coming from her open balcony doors. She closed her eyes and giggled a little. "Married to Leon, no no _Squall_, that's rich." She snorted in amusement.

Heaving a sigh and chuckling once more, Yuffie threw back her blankets and leaped from the bed, stretching her arms above her head and arching her back slightly before pulling on a pair of shorts and a halter top. It was going to be a very warm day today; she could feel that already with the day just beginning. But, despite the steadily rising heat, she was feeling pumped and energized from just the knowledge that the day before had been a dream and spent a few moments shadowboxing, crowing at her triumph over her imaginary opponent. No one needed to know that her imaginary opponent looked an awful lot like Leon on a bad day.

Just as she finished her victory dance, a knock sounded at her door just before it creaked open, protesting loudly on the old hinges. "Yuffie," Aerith called as she stuck her head in the door, fully expecting to find the ninja still in bed as she usually was at this early hour, "Oh! You're up already. It's your turn to cook breakfast."

Yuffie furrowed her brows for a moment in confusion. "Are you sure, Aerith? I thought I cooked breakfast yesterday," she said as she pulled on her long, knee-high socks. "I fixed fruit salad, remember?"

"No, you threw a few apples and oranges on the table and told us to fix it ourselves," Aerith sighed wearily. "Everyone decided it didn't count, except for you, of course."

"Well, it should count! Why not have Cid make breakfast for a change?" Yuffie muttered while she began the arduous process of lacing her boots.

Aerith leaned her head against the heavy, oaken door and groaned. "Have you already forgotten the time he made _crispy_ scrambled eggs? Or when he made blackened bacon? Or, how about his specialty: congealed oatmeal with cigarette butts for added flavor?"

Yuffie grimaced at the memory and gagged. "Okay, you win. I'll cook, and Cid should be barred from coming within twenty feet of the kitchen." She finished with her boots and left the room with Aerith.

As she semi-listened to Aerith's mindless chatter about her up-and-coming herb garden, Yuffie found her eye drawn to the half-repaired cracks on the walls of the hallway. Her dream the night before had reminded her of the full-glory Radiant Garden had once possessed. She would love to see it as it once was again, outside of a dream, that is.

There was a lull in the prattle coming from her companion, so Yuffie took this as a cue to nod, smile, and say, "Really? That sounds great," only to find Aerith staring at her as if she had just grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead.

"You weren't listening to a word I said, were you, Yuffie?" Aerith asked laughingly as she shook her head.

"Sure I was," Yuffie fibbed.

That caused Aerith to laugh harder, and they stopped while she attempted to calm herself. "Well, then I'm glad you're so excited about scrubbing the windows in the conservatory."

Yuffie's shoulders sagged. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," Aerith said smugly when she finally got herself under control. "If you had been paying attention, you would've known that my plants aren't doing too well because of the grime on the windows."

"Yeah, but you see…" Yuffie trailed off as she turned away from young woman while trying to think up a suitable lie. Her eyes fell upon the open doors to the library. She had an idea. "I can't scrub the windows, Aerith. I have important research that I need to do. In the library. For… uh… ninja stuff." She paused for a moment. "And I need to start right away, so I can't take breakfast duty either this morning." Not giving her friend a chance to reply, she darted through the double doors of the library and escaped among the books.

Yuffie remained hidden until she was sure Aerith had given up on her. She was sure the flower girl wouldn't hold it against her… for too long. Besides, everyone was _much_ better off with Aerith's breakfasts instead of Yuffie's. The younger woman's meals were not too far ahead of Cid's in the edible factor.

Having felt like she had stayed hidden for long enough, Yuffie meandered around the library, trailing her fingers along the dusty spines of books Aerith had not yet had a chance to dust. Yuffie was sure that the older woman would not take nearly as long to dust these tomes if she didn't insist on reading each one as she went.

It was as she was mindlessly meandering that Yuffie bumped her hip into one of the table corners on the second floor. "Stupid table," she grumbled under breath as she rubbed the affected flesh. She just knew it was going to leave a bruise and, wanting to survey the damage done to her hip, she gingerly sat on the same corner that had mercilessly attacked her.

That was when Yuffie noticed a book laying there. She leaned over and dragged it across the table to her, ignoring the dust she disturbed and sent flying as she did so. "Just an old dictionary," she muttered as she looked at its spine. "Might as well put it up for Aerith and save her the trouble."

But, just as she was rising from the table, she remembered something from her dream the night before. Something Aerith and _Squall_ had been whispering about in the hallway. She quickly turned to the 'C' section and, running her fingers down the column of words, found the one she was looking for. "A-HA!" she gloated in her minor victory over the book. "Confabulation. That act of confabulating." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that doesn't help much." She read on. "A plausible but imagined memory that fills in gaps in what is remembered."

Yuffie stared at the book for a moment before chuckling nervously. "Some crazy dream I had," she mused aloud quietly. "Dreaming up words I've never even heard of." She shook her head and sighed. "Crazy crazy crazy," she continued to mumble as she returned the book to the first empty spot she found on the nearest bookcase. Deciding her stay in the library had been long enough to let Aerith's possible anger cool, Yuffie made her way to the door.

However, upon reaching the door, she paused with one hand on the frame and looked back at the shelf where she had placed the dictionary. The fact that she had a crazy dream the night before didn't bother her. No, what continued to bother her now was the fact that a word that she would _never_ in her wildest dreams—which never revolved around words, but instead relied upon the actions of a certain stoic personage—use in her life and had never before heard of, would stick out in her mind and have such a strange meaning.

-0-

_AN: It is by no means over. There is much more planned for Yuffie. And, like I mentioned at the top, I most likely will not be updating next week as scheduled. _

_And, remember: reviews are always appreciated, but never required._


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Thanks for all the reviews! I just want to tell you that reviews always brighten my day! And, please enjoy!_

_Concordia discors_

_Chapter Five_

Later that morning, Yuffie found herself under the ever-so-watchful eyes of Aerith while she scrubbed the breakfast dishes as penance for skipping out on her morning chores. While she did not _like_ having chores, she did agree with the others that, considering the size of the castle, daily chores were needed for each member of their small and strange family. And, since Aerith was the best at organizing _without_ making anyone angry and probably the most fair when going about it, she was chosen as the one to distribute the chores evenly among the five of them.

But, that still left Yuffie where she was now—scrubbing and scraping cooked-on food off of the dishes. "So, tell me again how this is even fair since I didn't even eat breakfast this morning?" she grumbled as she used a fingernail to scratch a bit of egg off a plate.

"Just do the dishes and quit complaining, Yuffie," Aerith replied as she went around and watered the few plants she had moved into the room. She felt it made the kitchen more aesthetically pleasing and softened the harsh bright white of the walls, something she planned to remedy the next time she bought paint.

Yuffie sighed and continued in silence, realizing there was no use arguing with Aerith. The twenty-seven year old had a way of winning every verbal battle through calmness. Sometimes, Yuffie felt as though it was almost like a secret power of Aerith's—to be annoyingly calm while being verbal blasted. However, that isn't to say the former flower girl didn't have a temper. There was many a time when the ninja was able to ruffle Aerith's feathers enough to get a rise out of her. But, today Yuffie just didn't feel like taking the time and effort to rile her friend. She was too busy contemplating her dream.

So engrossed in her reflection, Yuffie didn't notice when her companion finished her rounds with the plants and came to stand beside her. It was the sound of the tin watering can hitting the marble countertop that finally caused Yuffie to snap to attention and nearly drop a plate in the process. "Don't do that," she hissed as she quickly readjusted her grip on dish in her hands, "you nearly gave me a heart attack." It was also unnerving that this was the second time in just as many days that someone had managed to sneak up on her—if you considered the Cloud from her dream sneaking up on her.

Aerith leaned against the counter and looked intently at the younger woman. "Are you feeling okay, Yuffie?" she asked gently, "you seem to be a bit out of sorts today."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yuffie smiled wanly and wrinkled her nose. "I just had a kinda weird dream last night."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No, not really," the ninja bit out, becoming more intent on the dish she was scrubbing in order to avoid Aerith's scrutiny.

Aerith sighed and moved a few steps away from the counter, pretending to occupy herself by pulling a few dead leaves off the fern she was trying to save. "You know, it helps if you talk about your dreams. Dreams always have a meaning, and I could help you find it," she said nonchalantly.

"I said I don't want to talk about it, Aerith," Yuffie growled through clenched teeth. "It was just a stupid dream."

A light chuckle escaped from Aerith. "It wasn't that dream where you find yourself riding a chocobo naked through the Traverse Town Square on Market Day, was it?" She pressed a hand to her lips to repress her laughter.

"No, Aerith. It wasn't." Yuffie slammed the plate in her hands down upon the counter, ignoring both the new crack in the dish and Aerith's dismayed gasp. "And thank you ever so for bringing that dream up again. I thought I had thankfully forgotten it, but surprise! I haven't." She turned around to glare at the brunette for a moment before grabbing a trashcan and sweeping the plate and its tiny shards into the bag.

Aerith took the trashcan from Yuffie's hands and stepped beside her. "It was a dream about Leon, again, wasn't it?"

The sudden rosy blush upon her cheeks was answer enough, but Yuffie tried to deny it. "N-no, it wasn't! Why would I dream about him?" she stammered while hastily running a sponge across the counter top.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Aerith quoted while hiding her smile behind her hand, but nothing could hide the smile in her vivid green eyes. "But, seriously, Yuf, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It just means that you need to tell him how you feel. He might surprise you."

"Yeah, I tried that, Aerith, remember? And, in case you've forgotten, he turned me down. He said I was too young for him." She closed her eyes at the painful memory, feeling her cheeks heat up again at the agony of the past mortification.

There was a long pause as Aerith simply stared at her. "…Yuffie, you were _thirteen_ years old at the time."

"Nine years is nine years," the ninja insisted. "The age gap hasn't changed since then."

"Yuffie…"

"And it was enough to crush my heart, so no, I don't think I'll be telling Leon how I feel, thank you very much," she said hastily before her friend could try to convince her to confess to Leon. It was bad enough when he turned her down seven years ago; and, even though she _was_ only a kid at the time, she didn't think she could go through the heartbreak again. It was better to keep things like this bottled up inside and hidden from the ridicule of the world.

Silence reigned in the kitchen as Aerith gathered her thoughts while moving to sit at the table, and Yuffie continued with her current chore. It was a blessed relief for her to be able to work in silence for a few moments after that conversation. But, it wasn't to last for very long for the sound of heavy boots clomping down the stairs alerted her to the fast approaching presence of Cloud.

The blond swordsman stopped at the entranceway to the kitchen and surveyed the scene for a moment. He could tell from the way Aerith was chewing her lower lip that something was bothering her, and the way Yuffie, who normally chattered away like a squirrel, was working in silence tipped him off that she was not in the best of moods either. And, naturally, he would be the one relaying a message she would most likely not care for. He could only hope she wouldn't kill the messenger.

As if feeling his eyes upon her, Aerith raised her head and smiled weakly at him. Though she loved the man dearly, their relationship was a strained one at best. After they had returned to the then Hollow Bastion four years ago, she was ecstatic to find that her childhood friend had not perished at the hands of the Heartless after all. But, he had suffered greatly in the years he had spent alone, and he still had the mental scars to prove it. Gone was the happy-go-lucky playmate she had known when they were kids, and here was the quiet, stoic swordsman prone to bouts of brooding. And, of course, there was the whole Sephiroth ordeal to contend with a few years ago. It had all left an emotional impact on the man, one that would take many years to heal.

Cloud nodded to Aerith in acknowledgement. "Yuffie, Leon needs you help."

"Please tell me that this involves kicking the butts off some stray Heartless because I really could use the opportunity to blow off some stream," she begged as she wiped her hands on the kitchen towel.

"Unless there is some new variety of Heartless in the form of window grime, then no," Cloud attempted in a light-hearted joke.

Yuffie grimaced. "The windows in the conservatory I accidentally volunteered for, I assume." She glared half-heartedly at Aerith.

"At least Leon was willing to help," Aerith ventured while smiling, her eyes crinkling up at the corner in good humor.

"Are you _sure_ Leon needs my help?" the ninja asked Cloud, refusing to be intimidated by his stern eyes. By now, she had learned that though his eyes were hardened, the man, himself, wasn't nearly as harsh.

"I believe his exact words were 'Tell Yuffie she has three minutes to get her ass up here.'" The corner of his lip lifted in a slight half-smile.

Yuffie huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine fine. I'm going." Without another word, she left the room and its occupants behind her. She decided it was better to get out of there and away from Cloud and Aerith, anyways. The way they danced around their feelings for each other was maddening. Anyone with half a brain could tell that they loved each other… except for them. "And Aerith advises _me_ to tell Leon," she muttered under her breath as she stepped into the conservatory.

The conservatory itself was a gorgeous room during Radiant Garden's halcyon days. Now, however, the glass was coated with a thick grime that had been growing ever thicker since those long gone days, giving the room a gloomy and even sickening feel to it. And, during those abandoned years, the plants had suffered greatly. The more invasive plants had grown over the smaller, more delicate ones, and vines had started growing over the glass panels, filtering the sunlight even further than it already was. In a word, the conservatory had looked like a jungle when they had first returned four years ago.

It was not until they had actually moved out of the small house they shared with Merlin in the borough and into the castle three months ago that they began the arduous task of bringing the castle back to its former glory. They would have liked to have begun this task upon their arrival to this world, but making the borough inhabitable and safe was their first priority for people were arriving daily to repopulate the land. But, now that they had secured the borough and were within the castle walls, they could focus on the castle itself. And, of course, after performing the most urgent repairs, Aerith had insisted they work on the conservatory. Naturally, the first order of business was to pull down the vines and trim back the more invasive plants so they could actually move around easily in the room, and then clear away the grime—the task now assigned to Yuffie and Leon.

Yuffie sighed and leaned casually against the door frame, scanning the room for Leon. "I was told my presence was ordered," she called to the seemingly empty room. She was hoping that Leon had given up on her coming to help and had already moved on to another task—one that wouldn't require her aid. However, her hopes were soon dashed.

"Your presence should have been here half an hour ago," a disembodied voice grumbled from above her. "I've had a hell of a time trying to reach some of these panes."

Raising her eyes to the ceiling directly above her head, Yuffie found Leon standing upon rickety scaffolding and staring down at her with the icy glare she had actually missed in her dream last night. "Why, Leon!" she exclaimed, mockingly holding a hand over her heart, "I didn't know you cared!"

He dropped an old, wet rag full of holes on her head. "Get your ass up here and start scrubbing."

Yuffie saluted and pulled the rag off of her head. "Yes, mon capitaine." She rolled her eyes and started climbing up the scaffolding, ignoring the protesting creaks and groans from the metal. "I really don't see why you need my help, to be perfectly honest," she said when she reached the top.

"Because you're lighter and more agile. You can reach the spots I can't," Leon explained rationally.

"Wow! Is that actually a compliment from Mr. Stoicism?" She hopped up and sat on the railing, dropping the rag at her feet.

"If it gets you to start working, then you can call it that if you want. You do far too little around this place as it is." Leon dipped his rag into a bucket of very dirty, very sudsy water and started scrubbing the glass, leaving dirty streaks in the wake of the rag.

Yuffie huffed and slid off the railing. "Isn't there like a spell or something we can use to blast away the grime?" she asked hopefully.

"And not break the glass? I don't think so, Yuffie." He looked pointedly at the rag at her feet and then back at her.

"Fine, fine. I get your message. I am yours to order around." She picked up her rag and started to dip it into the bucket, but stopped when she realized how filthy the water actually was. "But can we _please_ get some fresh water because I am so not sticking my hand into that mess." She shuddered at the thought.

Leon sighed loudly and let his rag drop to the floor of the scaffolding with a plop. "Will that get you to actually start _working_?" he asked, annoyed.

There was a pause before she answered. "Well, I can definitely say that I _won't_ until the water is clean," she answered, easily side-stepping his question.

Pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, Leon shook his head. "I really don't know why I even bother," he grumbled as he picked up the bucket and started down the side of the scaffold.

Yuffie waited until he was out the door and out of sight before doing a small victory dance. "Yuffie one, Leon zero," she whispered to herself. She decided if she kept up like this, she may be able to avoid doing any actual work today. But what to do next to stall Leon from forcibly making her work?

She started pacing while tapping her chin with one finger. The more she paced, the more the scaffolding groaned and creaked. An idea formed in her mind. If there was no scaffolding, they couldn't reach the upper windows. If they couldn't reach the upper windows, then they couldn't clean them. Of course, Leon, Cloud, and possibly Cid would have the scaffolding back together again within a few hours, but it _would_ keep her from scrubbing for a while and give her a chance to come up with another excuse. Now if there was only a way to quickly do away with the scaffolding.

An almost evil smile formed on her face. There was a chain hanging from the middle of the conservatory that had once held an elaborate chandelier. Now it was just dangling there. If she could leap from the scaffolding to that chain, she could swing from it and knock the structure down, hopefully making it fall apart in the process. And, considering how rickety the scaffolding seemed, she was sure it would break when it hit the floor.

So, standing upon the railing, Yuffie leaped to the chain and held on for dear life as it swung wildly for a moment. She was quickly able to gain control of the direction by leaning her body from side to side and guided it towards the scaffolding. Now if she could only grab the structure and pull it over.

There. She caught the railing with her foot. The force from the swinging chain caused the scaffolding to begin to topple, and Yuffie tried to pull her foot back to safety only to realize belatedly that the laces of her boots had snagged on something. Her hands slipped from the chain as the weight of the scaffolding pulled her down, and she fell with a crash and a scream upon the floor of the conservatory, hitting the floor, bouncing slightly, and her foot pinned beneath the scaffold. There was a sickening crack followed by an intense pain radiating out from her right arm. The blinding pain at the back of her head caused the light in the room to flare before everything faded to blessed darkness.

What seemed to Yuffie as only moments later, she felt something brush across her forehead, and she opened her eyes to see three pairs of eyes staring down at her. The green pair she easily attributed to Aerith, nothing strange there. The other two pairs were both blue, but the darker of the two she would recognize anywhere. After all, she had roomed with the owner of said eyes for the better part of nine years. The third pair of eyes she didn't recognize immediately. They seemed slightly familiar to her, but nothing she could easily place. Her own eyes drifted from those eyes to their owner's face. That's when she realized they belonged to Zack.

She did a double take, then moved her eyes back to Leon's again. That's when she noticed the severe lack of apathy present there. She dropped her head back to the floor and winced when she jostled her arm. "Oh fuck! I'm married again, aren't I?"

-0-

_AN: This is the last chapter that I have pre-written. What this means for you is that I will be writing chapters to this story, Asphyxia, and various one-shots as I'm able. I'm going to _try very hard_ to update at _least_ once a month, possibly more, as inspiration hits. I do have most of this story plotted out, it's just a matter of putting it into words. So, from this point on, there probably won't be updated on a regular schedule. Also, I've hurt my shoulder somehow, and my doctor is on vacation. This makes typing hard since the only pain killers I have that work make me incoherent. Therefore, I can't type a lot at a time due to the shoulder pain. And, I go back to work next week, so I'll have that constraint, too. But, I do hope to start on the next chapter of this and Asphyxia very soon._

_Anyways, I've blabbered on far too long._

_And, remember: reviews are always appreciated, but never required._


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